Worst Blog EVER/Merry Christmas

I would like to begin by apologizing to anyone who, and I don't know why you do, still looks for updates on this blog. It has been 3 weeks since I updated and I am very pathetic for not having done this for so long. As a matter of respect to my fantastic manager Kevin Adams I have come home from a quick visit to the Rbk HQ and decided to throw an update out there!

So, the question is, what have I been doing the past 3 weeks that is so important I can't do my pathetic little training log that I do? Well 3 weeks ago I got a little injured which always delays my training log entries because the are embarrassing. 2 weeks ago I split between San Diego and Millbury, slowing progress of running and again sending my log into a low mileage state. The fact that I had no bag for the first 2 days really hurt as well because I had to spend all day waiting for them to deliver my bag as I was the only home to sign for it. Lastly I spent last week catching up with old friends and seeing the family and put running on the back burner. So, although I will throw down some numbers below, the hope of hitting in the 90's while I was home was a far cry from what I actually did. With excuses abound I plead for forgiveness.

The training for the Carlsbad 1/2 has definitely not gone quite the way I had anticipated and I have definitely had to begin adjusting my goals accordingly. Having sort of bagged the training for this event I may look to another spring event, yet to be decided (Boston?), to train for. This is probably a better idea as I have put in some decent mileage the second half of 2008 and a long race sometime in the spring may work well. I still plan on running hard at Calrsbad, but I think something in the 71:30-72:30 time range looks more realistic.

So here is a quick look at the past 3 weeks and I am making a New Year's resolution to keep up with the blog and try and post my training every Sunday night and at least one entry mid week to keep you all frothing at the mouth wanting more...

DECEMBER 8-14:
M - 9mi
Tu - 10mi, right foot hurt bad after run, couldn't walk on it at night
W - off, right foot hurts fairly bad still
Th - 80min pool workout w/Di, 3X10min hard, 10min of 1 on/1 off
F - 6mi, foot feels a bit better
Sa - 9mi, foot better
Su - 10mi
Total - 44mi, 5 runs, one solid pool workout

DECEMBER 15-21:
M - 10mi
Tu - 9mi
W - 9mi
Th - 8mi, left for the motherland to an awaiting snow storm
F - 8mi, barely made it through that much during a big snow storm
Sa - off, snow bound and waiting for lost luggage
Su - off, same as previous day...
Total - 44mi, 5 days

DECEMBER 22-28:
M - 9mi, w/Mario
Tu - 10mi
W - off
Th - 9mi, Annual Worcester Christmas Morning Run through Worcester, this years participants included Mario, Katie Gwyther and Mark Discroll. Usual participant Erin Dromgoole was dealing with a slight injury but we did stop by and pull her out into the cold wind so she gets a shout out for that.
F - 10mi, did an old school Millbury High-esque hill workout at the Shaw School, did 30min of non-stop running up the hill, around the school and down (~1mi per loop) using the downhill has active recovery
Sa - off
Su - 8mi, solo on the streets of Hamilton and Ipswich while visiting at Di's house
Total - 46mi, 5 days

That's all I have for now. Poor month of December training, but it has really motivated me to get off my ass and training in January. I'll probably make a decision in the next few weeks on what I will do as far as a big Spring race, truthfully I'm thinking anything from a 10k on the track to a Marathon, so we'll see what gets spit out the other end when I am done coming up with the plan.

Happy Holiday's to everyone out there and best of luck in 2009!

Training Summary: Dec 1 - 7

Note: I forgot my Garmin on my trip and therefore have just guesses as far as distance for most of the runs early in the week, not a big deal because anything prior to about 3 years ago were all guesses so it was nice to go "old school" for once, haha.

Mon 1/1 - 7+mi, 54:30, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (how fancy!)

Tue 12/2 - off, long travel day, 2 appointments, poor excuses...

Wed 12/3 - AM 8.5(?)mi, 59:30, solo, hilly, windy run in SLO.
PM - 4.5(?)mi, no watch, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (fancy again!)

Thu 12/4 - 9mi, 63:25, easy solo run in the dark on the bay.

Fri 12/5 - 10mi, 62:20, hard up and over Mt. Soledad, getting a bit run down and caught I cold on my trip...boooo.

Sat 12/6 - 9mi, 64:00, solo on the bay, felt terrible.

Sun 12/7 - ~15mi (same loop as last week), 1:35:22, easy/moderate pace for about 5.5mi then tempo run on the big Fiesta Island loop, ~4.3mi, then easy/moderate for the remainder of the run. The "tempo" was more like a bunch of surges for 4+mi because the wind was just crazy on Fiesta Island. I did the loop in 24:17 which is something in the mid 5:30's but I would say there were points I was under 5:00 and others where I was probably over 6:00 because of the winds. It was a good run though, and I averaged 6:20 or so for the entire run so I'm happy with that.

Summary: 63mi, 7 runs, 6 days. Pretty easy beginning of the week and finished it up with a solid long run on Sunday. I got a little run down on my sales trip early in the week and also caught a cold which made a few days feel hard that weren't. With a full week next week I should be in the high 70's for sure. I will try and put together at least one work out next week and another hard long run. I'd say things are looking decent so far and the plan is getting finalized as to key workout over the next 4-5 weeks before I need to start to rest up for the Half.

Training Summary: Nov 24 - 30

Monday 11/24 - 10.5mi, 1:15:39, easy with JLew in Rancho Santa Fe.

Tuesday 11/25 - 10mi, 67:20, solo through La Jolla.

Wednesday 11/26 - 10mi, 69:20, solo run up and over Mt. Soldedad.

Thursday 11/27 - 9 mi, 62:20 solo through La Jolla.

Friday 11/28 - 9mi, 59:45, easy with JLew around Del Mar.

Saturday 11/29 - 10mi, 68:40, easy solo on the bay.

Sunday 11/30 - ~15mi, 1:39:30, solo on the bay, easy to start and slowly picked it up, felt great.

Summary - 73mi, 7 runs. Great full week of running and on one-a-days which is great. No workouts specifically but Soledad runs are always hard and the long run was harder near the end. The plan is one more week of fairly easy days except for the long run, which I tend make a progression run. Possibly a day off next week with all the travel for work I have planned but that will likely be my last day off until 2009. I still think getting in the 80's is only two weeks off and I definitely want a week in the 90's when I am home for Christmas.

Happy NCAA XC Monday

So I probably should have posted this yesterday but I didn't. Great times yesterday watching the NCAA Championships while talking on the phone with various other fans and following it up with another great run (10.5mi) with JLew out in Rancho Santa Fe. So without further adu a few thoughts of mine that came from the NCAA's:

• Galen Rupp is the real deal. I know there are tons of haters out there but the fact of the matter is that he is our guy and we need to get enthusiastic about it. If he didn't go to UofO he would have gone pro but the fact of the matter is Nike is able to skirt around NCAA rules and allow Rupp to train like a pro but still get to experience the fun and excitement of the NCAA. Hell, that's the way it is in all the other NCAA sports, why not ours?


• The University of Washington, I guess now referred to simply as UDub, is the perfect example of how amazing recruiting can turn a program in to a national champion. There was no reason for those girls to chose UW except that were told that if they went they would be national champions. I think other programs are starting to take that same outlook, OK State for men for example, and prove that all you need is some great recruiting and you can build a championship caliber team.


• CBS needs to do a little research on how to broadcast a running event. I thought it was GREAT that they decided to not only stream it live on the Internet but also show it live on TV on their CBS College Sports. However, they did a poor job following anything but the leaders in the two races. If they could just throw a few cameras on the ATVs that are following the lead packs we could have had some great/easy shots of the other runners and the team competition, which they make a big deal of but don't follow visually while it is unfolding. Maybe they should hire the FloTrack guys as consultants or something because, although their production/editing/presentation are not CBS quality, they certainly understand the way to cover a race better than anyone else out there.

Well that's all I have for now. Now I need to get a run in and get some work done.

Training Summary: November 17 - 23

Monday 11/17 - 9mi, 62:30, easy solo on the bay.

Tuesday 11/18 - 9 mi, 62:00, easy solo through La Jolla.

Wednesday 11/19 - 11.3 mi, 1:19:22, with JLew through Rancho Santa Fe. Started out slow but picked it up mid-run, all on really soft woodchips which were good for the legs but not for the pace.

Thursday 11/20 - off

Friday 11/21 -10mi, 1:10:35, fairly easy with George, JLew and Mark through La Jolla.

Saturday 11/22 - 8mi, 57:00, easy with JLew on the bay.

Sunday 11/23 - 13.5 mi, 1:27:25, felt amazing, started out the first half super easy around 6:40's and worked it down to 6:00 with the last two uphill miles clocking in at 5:50 and 5:36. The early miles felt like a walk and even the faster final miles just felt like an easy pickup, good stuff!

Summary - 61mi, 6 days. Felt really good all week but I did miss a day mid-week with life/work getting the best of the day's effort. Solid "long" run on Sunday and I am feeling really good. Looks like moving back up into 75-85mpw should be easy.

I have a little travel to LA early next week and then hopefully a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving "weekend". I should be able to get into the mid 70's next week and back around 80 by December. Really looking forward to catching the NCAA Championships tomorrow. I think both the men's and women's races should be really exciting, especially on the team side. It's great to see coverage of all the NCAA divisions online now and increased exposure for the sport. Stonehill men and women ran on Saturday and came in 19th and 21st respectively. Definitely not what we thought they would do this year but with a decent showing from some underclassman hopefully we'll finally see a top 8 place in the next few years and an individual finally crack the top 20.

Updates Galore

I just put up the race report from the Dirt Dog Final, so be sure to check that out. Here is a quick look at my last two weeks:

Nov 3-9:
Monday- Friday: 8mi easy each day, 6X100 strides on Friday.
Saturday: SD USATF Championship, 14th overall (9th SD), 21:44, 10mi total.
Sunday: Travel to Dallas for The Running Event, no running
Total: 6 days, 50mi
Summary: Good week but really just kept the days easy so that I could be ready for the race on Saturday. The race was good, not great. Missed Sunday when I was traveling all day, but it was a decent week overall.

Nov 10-16 (In Dallas Mon-Thur):
Monday: ~9mi with the Reebok crew but ran the second half at a nice clip with Keith
Tuesday: ~8mi with the entire conference over to Luke's Locker and back
Wednesday: ~8mi, over to the "Indie 5k" ran the "race" (16:28) and ran back. Felt really crappy, probably a mix of lack of sleep, residual jet lag, slight hangover and wussing out all mixed together. I did run the last mile in around 5min which was good, but overall, in the words of Mr. Keith Kelly, an embarassing effort and result.
Thursday: No run. Slept about 3.5hrs, went to work and then to the airport, that was my entire day.
Friday: 7mi easy on the bay.
Saturday: 9 miles easy on the hilly La Jolla loop.
Sunday: 10mi on the bay. Did a little progression run, with the last 3mi all at or under 6min.
Total: ~51mi, 6 days.
Summary: Not a bad week considering I had planned on making it an off week. It was great getting out to run with the other Reebok guys for once, considering I hadn't seen any of them since April.

Here is the plan for the next few months:
I am going to build up the mileage over the next month so that I am back up around 80-90 a week. I am tentatively planning on getting up around 100mi for a week around the beginning of January if possible, but if it doesn't happen I'm not worried. I am going to shoot to run the Carlsbad Half-Marathon in late January. The goal there will be: 1) Run a PR, which shouldn't be hard because I have never actually trained for one specifically; 2) Specifically run somewhere between 70-71min; 3) Stay healthy while training and set myself up for a potential marathon in the fall.

Well that's all I got for now. Hopefully I can write about something besides my running over the next few weeks, but for now I'll stick to running because that's all I have time for.

Delayed Race Report: SD USATF Championship 4-Mile

I apologize for the delay, I am probably the worst blogger right now...

Results: 21:44, 14th place

Overall it was a pretty decent end to the season. It was fairly warm and extremely dry out. I had a few minor injury things over the weeks before the race so I am glad I was able to shut that out of my mind and just run. I went out "slow" and sat back a little. I tried to make a move around 2 miles and shake off a group of guys, but I was only slightly successful, as 2 of the guys ended up putting in a huge surge around 2.5mi and left me behind. In the end I think I ran fairly well, as the course does run up and over a really tough hill twice.

I ended 9th of the San Diego finishers which was pretty much spot on for how I was all season. I also finished 9th in the final Dirt Dog Series standings. At the start of the "season" I thought I had a good chance for top 5 but everyone really came out this year ready to run. Considering I really trained through the races and had my eyes set on just getting back to normal mileage I think it was pretty successful.

The team ended up folding in the finals, as only 5 guys could make it. We missed 3 of our top 5 guys which really hurt us. We finished 3 of 3 overall and in the final. Hopefully next year we can pick up a few more guys and get more consistent participation from the guys. It was fun to have a team and in the end it didn't really matter because we had fun.

Final Standings:
Individual Standings
Team Standings

Where the hell have I been?

Ok, well yesterday I got mocked about my blog by a work mate on the phone and it has made me make an update to this blog. Here are my quick excuses for the lack of posting: 2 of the past 4 weeks included minor injuries that killed my great streak of good weeks of running, I have been busy with work, I am lazy, I am easily distracted and generally apathetic about my blog. That is about to change! I am back on track here and I will either keep up with this thing or just delete it. I am giving myself until the end of the year to keep it going, which I know I can.

So here is a very small snippet of what I have been up to:

Weeks over 80mi: 1
Weeks under 60mi: 3
Number of injuries from running: 1
Number of injuries from pool running: 1 (who does that?!)
Days missed from said injuries: 6
Races Run: 1 (CSUSM Cougar Challenge 8k - 25:58 - 16th overall)

I am going to compile the actual weeks and post them up when I am flying this weekend. The reason I can't now is that I have lots of work to get done before the weekend and we have Dianna's parents here so I am pretty much busy 24/7.

This week will be around 60mi but I am healthy. Just keeping the miles low so I don't shock my legs before the SD USATF XC Champs this weekend. I am currently sitting in 11th place for the season and top 10 get $$$ so I need to run my ass off and beat a few guys that I really shouldn't be losing to anyways.

I hope I have made every one's week so wonderful by updating my blog, even though it is a sad update. I promise a full race recap this weekend, updated logs and other such things that I will have time to do on my flight to Dallas on Sunday.

Until then best of luck to the both men's and women's Stonehill Cross Country teams at regionals this weekend. Both teams are going to be fighting hard to make nationals, especially the women who I believe are ranked out of the top 2 going in to regionals for the first time since something like 2000. The men look good after their 2nd place finish at conference but will have a real battle with U-Lowell and Southern CT for those two spots. Keep your eye on U-Lowell standout Ruben Sanca, this kid is something special and is going to make some noise on the national level.

Best of luck to all!

Super Happy Fun Long Awaited Update

Is coming later today...I SWEAR!

Editors Note:  I clearly lied here and appologize for my terrible job at blogging over the last month.  I have been very busy with work and other things, but should have updated by now.  I will do my best to get something put together that recaps my last 4 weeks.  Sorry to all my loyal readers...although I don't really there are any left!

Race Report: Ursula Rains Balboa Boogie 5k

Results:  8th place, 15:46.

I really didn't know what to think about this race so I went in to it attempting to run a fast time for once.  I didn't wear a watch and didn't hear any splits but ended up hitting a decent time by simply racing.  From all accounts my splits looked something like 4:52, 10:15.  That is probably the fastest mile I have run in about 2-3 years and the same goes for the 2 mile time, so I have to be happy that I was able to handle it and still finish well.  That also means I was sub 5min for the final mile as well, which is great.  

As far as the race itself I was happy and disappointed at the same time.   I ran about where I should have, however I only came in 8th which means that it was a fairly stacked race.  Unfortunately at least a couple of the top guys weren't even there, meaning that the championship race in November should be a tough battle for the top 10.  

The team was 2nd, which gives us 2 first places and a second place.  That ties us for first currently, meaning no matter what really happens the winner of the series will be the winner of the championship race.

In other news Dianna won, although her foot is still bothering her.  Hopefully she can get that fixed because she has a perfect 300 points (3 wins) and leads the series.  It was also excited this week because Jeff and Matt came down and ran, although Jeff only ran it as a workout, and on top Mario was here to cheer and take pictures!

The series is actually fairly deep this year.  Here are the updated Dirt Dog Series Standings:

Individual Standings

Team Standings

Training Summary: September 29 - October 5

Monday 9/29 - 9mi, 63:40, easy solo through La Jolla.

Tuesday 9/30 - 9mi, 61:20, with Garrett on the bay.

Wednesday 10/1 - AM 4+mi, with the Mizuno guys in San Luis Obispo

PM 7mi, easy on the bay with the Wednesday Movin Shoes group

Thursday 10/2 - 10+mi, 68:50, easy solo on the bay.

Friday 10/3 - 10+mi, 69:45, easy solo on the bay with 6X100 strides.

Saturday 10/4 - 3mi warmup, Balboa Boogie 5k race, 4mi cooldown.  See race recap.

Sunday 10/5 - 16mi, 1:54:15, easy on the bay with Mills and then 6mi through La Jolla to finish.  With about 3mi to go I got one of the worst side stitches ever and it made the run very rough to finish.

Summary: 75mi, 7 days.  Much better week than last.  Unfortunately no "workouts" but I got in a great race on Saturday.  I was pretty happy with this week and I think I can bump up next week back to 80mi again.  I think the decision is to race twice more for Cross Country (Cougar Challenge 8k and the San Diego USATF Championship).  After that I am going to bump the mileage up again through the New Year and give a run at a Half Marathon in January, most likely the Carlsbad Half-Marathon.  Until then, time to keep the mileage up and keep getting stronger.

Training Summary: September 22 - 28

Monday 9/22 - 9mi easy, tired from the race/long run.

Tuesday 9/23 - off, planned day off although my right ankle is sore.

Wednesday 9/24 - off, ankle still hurts, not too worried but an additional precautionary day off.

Thursday 9/25 - 6mi, easy test run to see how the leg felt.  Looks like I should be good to go from now on.

Friday 9/26 - 10+mi, 69:35, easy solo on the bay.

Saturday 9/27 - 10mi, 67:25 easy solo on the bay.

Sunday 9/28 - 16.2mi, 1:48:55, felt pretty decent but not great.  Legs are a little thrown off from taking the low days this week.

Summary:  ~51mi, 5 days.  It was a pretty crappy week with having to take the two days off.  I think what happened was that I tweaked my foot at the race on some of the tight turns.  It felt fine by the end of the week and still averaged over 10mi for the 5 days that I ran.  Hopefully next week will be better.  Legs definitely got a little messed up with the days off and the were sore after the long run.

Busy Busy

I haven't posted in about 2 weeks, but it has been a really busy time.  Since my last post I have been traveling for work, running, hanging out with Mario on his visit here and watching some great Boston sports!  I plan on updating tonight with a race recap from this past weekend and a recap of the last 2 weeks training.  Until then...

Training Summary: September 15 - 21

Monday 9/15 - 10+mi, 68:37, easy solo on the bay. 

Tuesday 9/16 - 10.03mi, 65:29, workout up Mt. Soledad, solo.  Solid effort, tough run.

Wednesday 9/17 - 13mi, 7mi solo and then right in to a 6mi at the Movin Shoes Run.  I did my run and met the Movin Shoes group and just continued in to that run.  It was a good way to get in a longer day without doubling.

Thursday 9/18 - 10mi, solo on the bay.  I threw in 10 X 1min on/off.  Good effort during the run with the pushes which are always harder than I remember!

Friday 9/19 - 9mi, 8mi with Di and the last solo, 6X100 strides.

Saturday 9/20 - 12mi total, ~3mi warmup, ~10k race, ~4mi cooldown.  See race recap.

Sunday 9/21 - 17.01mi, 1:57:23, solo through La Jolla to start and then down to the bay.  Started out slow and picked it up later.  Fairly tired from the race.

Summary: ~81 miles, 7 days.  I would say it was a very solid week for me.  I got in 80+ miles again, and this time it was on single runs, except for the race day.  I had a hard long run last Sunday, a solid hard hill run on Tuesday, pickups on Thursday, race Saturday with a less intense long run on Sunday.  So, counting long runs as hard days, I had 5 "hard" days in 8 days, which is great.  This coming week I will probably get in 2 workouts of some sort but I'll likely take a day off or a VERY easy day.  I am scheduled for a low week, I think, so it will work out well.  Things are looking up!

Race Recap: City College Invitational 10k

Result:  34:58, 5th place.

Well the time wasn't too flashy, although all reports point to the course being about 6.5mi, but my place was decent and that's all I was looking for.  The plan today was to try and snag a decent place to pick up a few extra points for the individual standings.  We didn't field a team so it was really just on me to do this for myself.

The course is on very uneven grass, wood chips, over little toy train tracks and on some nice dirt paths.  It is a loop course in which you do 4 "2.5k" loops.  Each loop starts out flat on very uneven grass, runs up a steep wood chip hill, around a sharp turn and back down the hill, then through a few sharp turns on wood chips, and then fairly flat for the remainder of the loop on dirt/grass and some interesting maneuvering over some toy train tracks.

The race plan was to run up with the "leaders" for about a lap and then see what happens.  I was probably 5 seconds off the leaders through the first loop, which was good.  This was good practice at running up with some of the guys I feel as though I should be running with once my form actually comes around.  This also put in well in the top 5 and I already had a clear 10-15sec over the next pack.  From there on out I just tried to maintain my pace as best as I could, push the tough, wood chip laden hill and accelerate on the downhills.  I think I probably lost a little time on the 3rd lap but regained composure and increased my lead to around 20sec over 6th place by the final half mile or so.

So I think I'd say I was happy with my place but I wish I could have stayed in contact with the leaders for a bit longer.  I had a relatively tough week of training, although i did take it easy the day before the race in hopes that it would lead to a good effort.  It was a good workout for sure and I can't complain.  I picked up a 5th place, which is my best so far this series, which helped me leap over a competitor or two in the standings and set me up well for the individual standings.

Next up is a 5k at Morley Field, home of the Footlocker XC Championships.

Mt. Soledad

The View From the Top during my Run

I did a "workout" up Mt. Soledad tonight and it went fairly well.  I never really know how this run goes but I always know it hurts!  The idea is to warm up for the first few miles and then pretty much run until it is uncomfortable to the top.  I wore my Garmin today to get a measure on a new loop from our apartment and it measured 10.07 which is perfect.  I use a program called SportTracks to keep track of mileage.  I have been REALLY bad about keeping my log going on days that I don't use the Garmin, which is most days.  I only wear it on runs I don't know, runs I want to know pace for and most long runs.  Luckily keeping this blog has given me a place to go back to later and re-record my miles in to my SportTracks file.  SportTracks is a shareware type deal and I think it is really great if you have a Garmin or similar piece of equipment because you can get all cool types of charts, maps, etc. with it.  I have tried out a few different programs for keeping GPS info in and this is by far my favorite, so I'd check it out if you don't already use it.

Anyways, to give you an idea of what my workout was like I thought I'd post a chart of the run up on the blog.  This chart shows elevation and pace.  I think the elevation may be slightly off because the top of Mt. Soledad is supposedly 822ft. and my Garmin only read it as 777ft, so who knows.  Well here goes, I think it is fun to see this kind of stuff and I'll try and show other runs at some point as well.  Enjoy!

Training Summary: September 8 - 14

Monday 9/8 - 10+mi, 64:53.  Ended up turning the day in to a progression run on the bay.  Felt good so I let my legs move as I went along.  8X100 strides.

Tuesday 9/9 - AM 7mi, 47:35.  Solo through La Jolla.

PM 6mi, around UCLA, including a mile on the track, with Millsy.

Wednesday 9/10 - 10+mi, 65:15.  Workout: 15min warmup/cooldown,  3X10min w/3min rest.  Each interval was progressively harder.  The "efforts" were as followed (be sure to read "effort" as just that, I did this completely off feel):  marathon-ish pace, tempo-ish pace, 10k-ish pace.  Felt really good and still getting used to doing workouts completely off feel.  This is a variation of a Robert Gary (Ohio State) workout that I really like, however his is done a bit more uptempo and on a measured 2mile loop.  I would like to get to the point where I can use this workout as a benchmark type workout that I can get on a measured loop.

Thursday 9/11 - 10mi, 73:45.  Easy 8 with Di and last 2 solo.  

Friday 9/12 - AM 7mi, 47:15, easy through La Jolla and back.

PM 5mi, 34:35, easy on the bay.  6X100 strides.

Saturday 9/13 - 2mi warmup, Aztec Invite 5k, 4mi cooldown.  See race recap.

Sunday 9/14 - 17.07 mi, 1:52:42.  SOLID long run mostly solo on the bay.  Started out the first mile with Di and ran in to Garrett for about 10min early on as well.  Went through 8mi in 56:25 and then the miles started to melt away as follows:  6:24, 6:16, 6:08, 6:07, 6:03, 5:59, 6:05, 6:17 (UP), 6:27 (UP).  The final 9mi was 55:48 which is pretty solid I think, especially at the end of an 80mi week and the day after a race.

Summary:  80mi, 9 runs.  Overall a good week with some good efforts mixed in.  I would like to have done the 80 in 8 runs, but some travel for work made me split the run on Tuesday.  However, having the chance to run on the UCLA track is always fun and it gave me an Mills some quality Patriot's discussion time.  The workout went well, although I feel as though I could have gone a bit harder on the initial intervals and saved too much for the final one, but it was my first time doing the workout and it was really an experiment more than anything else.  The race went pretty well and I look forward to moving up to a 10k next week.  

Race Report: Aztec Invitational "People's Race" 5k

Results:  8th place, 16:22.

Well I have mixed feelings about how this race went.  When I finished I felt as though I had raced pretty well and mixed it up early on, trying to hang with the lead pack through the mile. The course is actually pretty tough, all in the 2nd mile, which really kills your momentum.  I passed a few people just after the mile mark (5:0?) and from there I stayed in 8th place, briefly took over 7th on the switchbacks and then later got passed again by the same guy and finished in 8th.  It was my teammate Jeremy Brown, aka "7ft. Marine", that I passed and was then got passed by.  We worked together during the 3rd mile which is slightly downhill for the first half before you turn around for a slightly uphill finish.  

Now, the results confuse me a bit because 7ft. made a move on me with 600m to go and I wimped out and let him go, but according to the results he beat me by 11 seconds, which seems like too much.  Also, the guy behind me is listed as 1 second behind me and, after Jeremy made his move, I looked back and saw I had about 5sec+ cushion.  I did let up about 200m to go knowing I had 8th in the bag and he could have caught me a little but I don't think Jeremy put 11sec on me in the last 600m.  The reason I am rambling is that it sort of depresses me if he put that much on me and I just didn't notice and that Fernando caught me by so much.  Granted I pulled up at the finish and I guess that's what I get for not running through the line and giving less than 100% effort to finish.  Therefore, I should not bitch about it and take it for what it was.

Preliminary team results put us in 3rd, our first loss of the season.  We only fielded 5 guys and we were missing 2 of our top 5.  Adidas/Movin Shoes showed up with a full squad which we knew was going to be trouble even if we had a full team.  The other good team, BSK/Running Center, my old team, looks to have edged us as well.  Not the greatest moment in Lost Boys history but we will rebound and pick up that important 3rd win before the championship.

Knowing the season is still another 8 weeks before the championship in November and the fact that I want to do well next week in the 10k, I think the choice in this week's effort was a good idea.  I really pushed the start, cruised solo through the middle of the race, ran hard up with switchbacks and had a good go at it with 7ft. before we took the turn for home where I sorta shut it down.  Hopefully saving that effort will reflect next weekend.  I look forward to running double the distance of this week and seeing what I can do over a 10k that is on all grass with hills, sharp turns, a gap to jump...AKA REAL XC!

Updated standings:

Individual

Team

Mt. Laguna

Considering I have posting on a less consistent basis I am going to try and make sure I get in at least one post besides a race report or training summary.  I though as a nice "almost end of the week" I would post up some amazing pictures from our trip to Mt. Laguna last weekend.  Before that I will give you a quick low-down on the area.  Mt. Laguna, and the surrounding area, is located about 50mi east of the City of San Diego, but in San Diego County.  Please keep in mind, all you East Coast readers, that this state is so vast that even though it is really about an hour away from any city type buildings some people would actually refer to this as "in San Diego," it is a much different concept than I am used to.  Mt. Laguna itself is technically an unincorporated town with a population hovering around 90 people.  It sits at it's highest point around 6200' (mainly floating around 5600-6000') above sea level, making it a really great place for training.  

About 8 years ago there was a Fila sponsored training group that lived up here in preparation for the Olympics.  Greats like Sonia O'Sullivan and Craig "Buster" Mottram have been known to frequent the area to get in some altitude training.  It is a great area,  very quiet and definitely keeps you focused on your training...mainly because there is nothing else to do!  

Without further ado...here are some photos and captions for you to enjoy:

Me with Cleveland National Forrest in the Background (notice the burned remains from the 2002 (?) fires and the equally "HOT" pose by me!)

Looking down at the Anza Borego Desert with the Salton Sea in the distance (hard to see in this picture)...For a perspective we were standing at +5900' (Garnet Peak) and Salton Sea is -220' !

Di at Laguna Meadow

Jill Gaitenby Signed New England Runner at the Mt. Laguna store, no matter where we go New England follows!  (Sonia O'Sullivan signed Irish Runner can be seen next to it.)

Training Summary: September 1 - 7

Monday 9/1 - 10+mi, 69:20, solo on the bay.

Tuesday 9/2 - 10mi, 9 with Di and the last solo.  Did strides but had to stop after 4 because I had some pain in my back.  It felt better over the final 2 miles after the strides but I will watch it tomorrow.

Wednesday 9/3 - 12mi, 6.5 solo and then 5.5 with Wednesday Night Movin Shoes Run.  Fairly easy around 7:15ish pace for most of the run.

Thursday 9/4 - off, ended up really doing tons of stuff all day getting things done so we could leave by noon on Friday to go to Mt. Laguna!

Friday 9/5 - 10mi, easy 8 with Di and the last 2 solo.

Saturday 9/6 - 8mi, 64min @ 6000+feet.  Did a really amazing easy run at Mt. Laguna with Di.  Only my second run ever at altitude.  It was just beautiful scenery and that was part of the reason why we went so slow.  A bit short and slow but worth it!

Sunday 9/7 - 16.2mi, 1:56:55.  Easy long run with Di on the Bay, great run for her!

Summary - 66mi, 6 days, 7 runs.  Not an amazing week following my big week last week but it had a few reasons.  First life got in the way and I ended up having to take a day off.  Secondly we went camping for 2 nights in Mt. Laguna and between our 2 amazing hikes we did I was only able to squeak out an 8miler out there, granted it was at 6000+ feet!  Di and I actually went on 3 hikes this week (one in La Mesa on Labor Day and 2 up at altitude in Mt. Laguna) which was really fun.  Next week will be back around 80mi or so and we have a race as well which should be great.  I will likely still take a scheduled down week the week after which will help with the race the following week.

Finally caught up on blog entries, YES!

Training Summary: August 25 - 31

Monday 8/25 - 16.2mi, 1:46:55.  Long Run solo on the bay.  Felt really good and pushed my way through the second half of the run, sub 6:30 pace for the last 75min.

Tuesday 8/26 - 10+mi, 71:15, with Di around the bay.  Tagged along with Di while she did her workout of some "short fartlek."

Wednesday 8/27 - 12mi

Workout:  ~3mi warmup, 3X5min at 5k pace, 5X1min quick, cooldown remainder of the run.  Felt good and definitely got a solid workout!

Thursday 8/28 - 11+mi, 1:15:35, with JLew through La Jolla.  Longer than planned but felt decent, hot and humid!  Happy 25th to me!

Friday 8/29 - AM 7mi, 50min, easy with Di on the Bay

PM 4mi 28:00, easy on the bay with 4X100 strides

Saturday 8/30 - 12mi, 2mi warmup, Balboa 4 Miler race, 6mi cooldown, see race report.

Sunday 8/31 -16.2mi, 1:51:25, first 45min with Di and then solo.  Felt a little tired but not too bad.

Summary - 88mi, 7 days, 8 runs.  Wow what a crazy unexpected week!  Did not plan to run over 80, let alone almost 90!  I felt pretty good coming out of it all and got in a solid workout and a good race.  Plan to take it a little easier next week but still pretty strong.  We have a week off from races next weekend so that will be a nice break.  I am happy with the week and I just hope it wasn't too big of a jump, but so far, so good.

Race Report: Balboa 4 Miler

Results:  8th place, 22:08.

This is race #2 of the Dirt Dog Series and I would say I was happy coming out of it.  The Balboa 4 Mile is a San Diego tradition and it is definitely a tough course.  It is a relatively flat first mile, steep up and down 2nd mile, rolling 3rd mile and steep up and down again for the 4th mile.  To put it in perspective I have been told in the 44 years of it's existence only about half a dozen people of broken 20min.

As for my race I went out harder than last weeks 5k, going through the relatively flat first mile in 5:10ish and through 2 miles around 10:45.  It is a tough 2nd and 4th mile with some very tough footing and sand areas in the canyon, not to mention the very steep down and up you encounter.  I hung in around 10-12th through 2 miles and then moved up through the back half.  I ran a good last mile, even though I got out kicked by the same 18 year old that out kicked me in the Balboa 8 Mile just about a month ago!  I beat a few guys I wanted to catch up to and considering much more competition showed up this week I was still able to come in 8th overall and 7th as far as Dirt Dog Series runners go. 

The Lost Boys of San Diego, my team, grabbed our second win in two races and took the early lead in the series.  We added a few team members this week and we should have a solid team all year.  A few runners form adidas/Movin Shoes are still yet to show up to a race so we know it will be a tough fight for the series championship.  

Next up is the Aztec Invite 5k back at Balboa Park.

Here are the current standing for Dirt Dog through 2 races (very early on and lots will change!):

Individual Standings

Team Standings

Update Tonight

Sorry for the long time between posts.  I will update with 2 weeks of running and a race report tonight...I swear!

Edit:  Insanely tired and not feeling so hot after a long run will postpone the update to tomorrow.

Training Summary: August 18-24

Monday 8/18 - off, first day off in a month or so, very needed!

Tuesday 8/19 - 10+mi, 72:00, hilly run up and over Mt. Soledad with Di. She did a workout and I tagged along to keep her company.

Wednesday 8/20 - 10+mi, did about 5mi or so on my own and then met up with the Movin Shoes run for their 5.5mi run. Right hamstring is a little off from the day before.

Thursday 8/21 - 10+mi, 65:30, solo on the bay. Unintentional progression run. Probably clicked a few miles off around 6min. Right hamstring is a bit off still.

Friday 8/22 - AM 8mi, 59:30, easy with Di. Hamstring a little better not great.
PM 4mi, 28:00, easy solo on the bay. Threw on the XC flats for 6X100 strides on the grass which felt good. I wanted to test out the hamstring and it faired well enough to run the race on Saturday.

Saturday 8/23 - 2.5mi warmup, Wild Duck 5k race, 3.5mi cooldown. See race recap.

Sunday 8/24 - 10+mi, 69:00. Easy solo on the bay in the evening. Felt good post-race. Decided to hold off until Monday for the Long run.

Summary - ~61mi, 6 days, no long run. With a day off and no long run I'd say it was still a solid week. I hadn't taken a day off in about a month so I needed it. Hamstring is just feeling odd and I may get it looked at if it keeps up bothering me this week, although it felt better after the race. The race went fairly well which was good and I know that I will be in some pretty good shape com the end of the year. I was running on tired legs from the 12mi the day before so I'm happy. This coming week is all about catching up on sleep (no more Olympics...), catching up on work, running in the high 70's and racing well again on Saturday at the very challenging Balboa 4mi.

Race Report: Wild Duck 5k

Results- 6th place, 16:19.

So the race this weekend was the first in the Dirt Dog XC Series. Dirt Dog, for those that don't know, is a pretty competitive XC "Grand Prix" type series here in San Diego. There are 8 races and a Championship race. Each race is scored for individuals 100-90-81-73-66...3-2-1 and the championship race is worth double points. Team scoring is 20-14-10-7-5...2-1. You need to run a minimum of 2 regular races and the championship, but they count your best three scores plus the championship to decide the final standings. It is a good series and pretty much all the best runners in San Diego take part.

So the first race is up in Oceanside which is in North County and it is the furthest race away from where we live. This is true for most people living outside of North County, so it was a good chance to steal some points with some guys not showing up. The course wasn't hard but not flat either. The toughest part was very uneven footing and lots of patches of sand on the trails that really hurt your momentum. I was in the pack through the pedestrian first mile (5:20ish) and then it strung out. I should have made the move to stay in contact with 4-5 but I didn't and settled in like and idiot. We probably ran a 5:00 somewhere in the middle of the second two miles, so we were cruising ok enough. I ended up finishing just 3sec behind 5th, which was disappointing. Overall I felt strong but never had another gear to switch to over the last mile. That is something that needs serious work in the coming weeks.

We were able to piece together 5 guys to score but we didn't have our true top 5 out there. adidas/Movin Shoes didn't bring a full team so we were able to grab some decent team points, but with more guys coming on board we should really be a threat come mid-season.

Overall it was a good start to the series. It was my first 5k since the 2007 Carlsbad 5000 so the pace was brisk to say the least. Good rust buster and I think I should really round in to shape come the end of the season, as should "The Lost Boys" of San Diego (yes that is our team name!).

On a side note Dianna won the women's race which was a great first race for her! Things are looking up for us!

Breaking/Re-Discovering the Mold

Olympic Bronze Medalist Nick Willis (NZ) and his coach Ron Warhurst
(Note fellow Reebok employees Todd Klein and Jennifer Thomas to the Left of Warhurst)

The most amazing moments of the Olympics for me have come during moments in which you look at what happened and it gives you a feeling as though maybe things aren't as clear cut as they seem. By this I mean you look at Larry Bird and see a quiet, white guy from Indiana can be one of the greatest players in NBA history or Liu Xiang can prove that it is not just Westerners that can dominate the high hurdles. These guys broke a mold that was being set. Bird came in the the NBA during a time when African American players were showing they were clearly more dominant than their Caucasian counterparts.

In recent memory we have seen people like Paula Radcliffe capture the World Record in the Marathon, Deena Kastor take a medal in Athens in the Marathon and even Kara Goucher take a medal last year in the 10k at the world championships. I really believe I am colorblind and that is especially true for sports. If the best basketball players are usually African American then that is totally fine with me and if the best Tennis players are usually Caucasian then that is fine as well. It is when the mold is broken that I really find we see the true reason why we "run the race" or "play the game." Last night watching Nick Willis take a Bronze medal made me feel as though the mold broke again.

Nick Willis did something we thought we may never see again. Nick gave a new breath to a nation that was once one of the greatest 1500 powerhouses. He came to the US to run and drank the "Kool-Aid" that Ron Warhurst gave him. Nick watched Alan Webb leave the Wolverines to become a professional. Where was Webb in that 1500 final? Willis stuck with his intentions, stuck with his coach, stuck with his goals and in the end he has truly won. Nick Willis has given hope to all those little Kiwi kids that grow up hearing about Snell and Dixon but having no hero to call their own. Nick broke the mold of the current standing of the 1500 proving a guy doesn't need to be from Norther/Eastern Africa or on drugs to be a contender. Nick did good for his fellow Wolverine Kevin Sullivan who came so close in 2000 to that podium out kicked by a group of drugged up fools.

So I just want to say Congratulations to Nick Willis. You did the University of Michigan, Reebok and most importantly New Zealand very proud! You know Lydiard is smiling from above.

NBC...I hate thee...

I would just like to post that it is just past 2:30am and I just saw the men's 1500m final. I understand there wasn't an American in the race, but to show one of the premier events of the Olympic Games at this time of day is truly terrible. I have always really enjoyed the NBC coverage in the past but this really destroys it all for me. I really hope NBC doesn't get the 2016 coverage, but until then we have to deal with the terrible coverage of NBC again in Vancouver and then in London.

NBC should truthfully be ashamed.

Olympics Continue...Just Not Live!

I know that I probably should be posting about the Olympics but I have been so consumed by them and losing so much sleep over them that I barely have enough time in the day to work, run, eat and sleep in between all the events.

Here is my one comment...

Living on the West Coast has been a great experience and the weather couldn't be nicer here. The thing that has probably made this experience the worst is the fact that there is a tape delay out here for everything BUT LIVE SPORTS. The one thing we can always count on is the live sports to actually be on TV live. As was the case with the Olympic Trials (again I refer to this post) the West Coast is getting completely screwed with the Olympics. GIVE ME A BREAK! I have had so many people from the East Coast call me or try and tell me something in some way that I am just getting sick of avoiding all outside communication at night. Now correct me if I am wrong, but the sport of Gymnastics is probably one of the most watched sports of all the Olympics. NBC says that they aired the Women's All-Around in "Primetime" so that the most people could watch, but...wait a minute...since when is something starting at 11pm and ending at 1am considered "Primetime"? How about this...if they actually showed the event live on the West Coast it would have been from 8pm-10pm which, as far as I know, IS PRIMETIME! Believe me I could keep naming other events that went on at some obscene hour for the East Coast but would have actually worked out fine on the West Coast...but no NBC is, in my opinion, simply being too lazy to re-work their programing and show the Olympics live for the entire country.

I love the Olympics...I just wish we could watch them like everyone else! I'm just going to move to another country for the next Olympics so I can actually watch everything live...

Training Summary: August 11-17

Monday 8/11 - 9mi, 63:30, easy solo on the bay.

Tuesday 8/12 - 10+mi, with Di on the bay, kept her company on her fartlek.

Wednesday 8/13 - 10+mi, 64:30, same as yesterday but alone and at my own pace. Did 5X "Long Fartlek", as we called it in college. Long fartlek was simply 4min hard / 3min rest. The workout was always a feel based workout for me and I would say I graduated from 10k-ish pace for the first few and ended around 5k-ish pace for the last few. Good workout and went much better than I thought it would.

Thursday 8/14 - 9mi, 62:30, easy, solo on the bay.

Friday 8/15 - 12mi, 1:26:20, easy, first 4 solo and last 8 with Di on the bay. Just wanted to be on my feet for a long time so this worked out very well. Added 8X100 strides with Di. Felt really good.

Saturday 8/16 - 9mi, 66:59, easy, mostly with Di on the bay.

Sunday 8/17 - 16.3mi, 1:55:09, fairly easy on the bay with Garret. Felt perfectly good the entire run, but we did go pretty easy the entire run so I should expect to feel that way.

Totals: ~75mi, 7 days, 7 runs. Felt really good the entire week with a few aches popping up here and there, but that is expected with the addition of miles and workouts. Overall a really good week and we have the first XC race this coming week. Plan on a day off this coming week to keep the body healthy, but will stay pace for a similar mileage (~65 with a day off). Hopefully I'll have a good race report from Saturday and things will be looking good for our team - The Lost Boys (of San Diego).

Training Summary: August 4th - 10th

Monday 8/4 - 9mi, 62:30 easy solo on the bay.

Tuesday 8/5- 10mi, 1:12:55, ran with Dianna on the bay while she did a fartlek, she had a good workout and it was a good way for me to open my legs up a few times in the run

Wednesday 8/6- 9+, for the second we in a row I did the Movin Shoes run, which is about 5.5mi, and preceded it with 30min on my own which I figure makes it anywhere from 9.5-10mi but an easy day anyway

Thursday 8/7- 10-11(?), 1:20:15, did a crazy hilly run in San Marcos with JLew and G$ (that being Jason Lewis and Garrett Ince) as a bit of a workout, we climbed what had to have been well over 1000ft over the run and descended the same amount, I should have worn my Garmin so we could figure out how long it was but we guessed anything from 10-11mi, my guess more than 10.5mi no more than 11.5mi

Friday 8/8- 9+mi, 68:30, easy with Dianna on the bay

Saturday 8/9- 9mi, 64:01, easy solo on the bay after an early wake up call in Chino and long drive home, very tired...

Sunday 8/10- 15mi, 1:40:23, solo on the bay and Fiesta Island, felt much better than last week but still not a great long run, the sun was KILLER and really baked me out there, it is amazing that it was only 72 degrees out but the sun was so strong I sweat like it was about 90 degrees, I was still able to hold at or just under 6:30 pace after the 4mi mark which is a small win

Summary - ~72mi, 7 days, good week overall, got a little workout in with the hill climbing on Thursday and had a better, although not great, long run on Sunday. Things are looking up heading in to the first race in a couple of weeks. I'm not expecting anything different out of this week except possibly adding a longer day in somewhere so that the mileage lands at or around 75mi for this coming week. Most likely add a mile to the long run and possibly a double but we'll see as the week goes on.

8-8-08

So the Olympics have really, officially, totally, absolutely, begun with the closing of the Opening Ceremonies this morning in the US. We won't be able to watch it until tonight on television but the Games have begun! I am not planning on taking on some crazy task, again, like doing a daily recap but I will comment when I have time. I plan on waiting on seeing things instead of cheating and finding out what happens before hand. It is WAY more exciting to see it happen then to read about it and see a still shot of the finish line or of a scoreboard. If anyone tries to contact me previous to an event airing with results I will never speak to you again. Now I know most of you will do what I am doing and wait but I know a few people who will cheat and look ahead...yea I'm talking to you Mills! I know you and your sneaky call the East Coast ways during reality show season to find out what happens before it airs on the West Coast!

Well I hope you all enjoy the Games as they truly begin for the Western World tonight and the first medals are awarded starting pretty much as the Opening Ceremonies air for us. As a little help to get you started here are my the "events to watch" this weekend (I will not write times because they may air differently on networks that have both High and Low Definition):

Saturday:
Cycling - Men's Road Race Final
Basketball - Women's USA v. Czech Republic
Shooting - Women's 10m Air Rifle (the first medal to be given out and China is the favorite...get used to that)
Swimming - Lots of prelims.

Sunday:
Basketball - Men's USA v. China (talk about pressure of the world for the first game!)
Gymnastics - Women's Qualification Stages
Swimming - Finals Galore! Men's and Women's 400 IM, Men's 400 Free, Women's 4X100 Free Relay (lots of potential USA medals and the first tests for Mr. Phelps)
Football - Men's USA v. Netherlands (huge test for USA, if they squeak out a draw it could mean a place in the Quarterfinals where anything can happen)

Don't forget to watch some of the other events as they broadcast on the 9 NBC channels (not including HD) that will be showing non stop sport for the next few weeks. How sad would it be if you couldn't tell your children you saw Lin Dan win a gold in badminton in front of his home crowd or France really take it to Angola in Women's Handball? I would say truly sad!

Enjoy!

Olympics Begin!

Lopez Lamong, USA Olympian and 2008 USA Olympic Flag Bearer receiving USA Citizenship in July 2007

So the Olympics have technically begun although the traditional/ceremonial beginning will be tomorrow at the Opening Ceremonies. Men's and Women's Football (Soccer to all you maladjusted Westerners!) started yesterday and it has been fairly exciting so far. I won't go on about results or anything but something I think is just amazing is that yesterday my cable service added 4 additional HD channels that will broadcast only Olympic coverage! There is an additional USA-HD and CNBC-HD along with two other that will carry Football and Basketball exclusively! I am so excited that all channels will be in HD this year, it will truly make it a different experience in watching the Olympics.

In other Olympic/T&F news Lopez Lamong, the Lost Boy of Sudan turned USA citizen, turned USA Olympian has been named the flag bearer for the USA contingent for the Opening Ceremonies. I think that it was a great choice on the part of the USOC and I think truly embodies the spirit of the Olympics. Congrats to Lopez and I am really excited to see the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow!

Have I mentioned I love the Olympics?

Training Summary: July 28th - August 3rd

Ok, so here is my attempt at returning to a weekly training update. I know I said I would do one for last week but it never happened. Last week I did take a day off so I'd rather start again on a week of 7 days!

As far as new runs from the new apartment, we have begun doing a nice hilly run through La Jolla. I would say there is less than a mile total that is flat, making it a fairly tough run, which is hard to come by when you live on a bay. The run in actually 8.25mi (according to my Garmin) and I add an full mile in at the end up to Kate Sessions and back making my normal distance for the new La Jolla route about 9.25mi.

Monday 7/28 - 9+mi, 63:40, solo effort on the hills of La Jolla.

Tuesday 7/29 - 5.5mi, 40min, ran with James when he arrived from Vegas. I made this my shorter easy day of the week.

Wednesday 7/30 - 9+mi, did the first 30min (4+mi) alone and met up with the PB Movin Shoes for a relaxed last 5.5mi. I plan on doing the Movin Shoes run every Wednesday, which will make it a good day to double or get in a workout in the morning. The run is usually very easy and Dianna is in charge of making it "great again". It has been going on for over 22 years now without missing a Wednesday, I'd say that is pretty good.

Thursday 7/31 - 9+mi, 63:15, strong solo effort on a hilly run in La Jolla.

Friday 8/1 - 9+mi, 68:30, easy with Dianna on the La Jolla run.

Saturday 8/2 - 11mi. Decided about 9:30pm the night before to go and run the Balboa 8mi race. I didn't warm up and ended up running 46:43 on a difficult course that was about 50% road and 50% dirt/grass. Ended up running a really hard last mile battle with an 18 year old who out kicked me, but I did end up running 5:12 for that last up and down mile. It was a really hilly course and I'd say one of the tougher courses I have run in recent memory (although still easier than this beast). Wished I could have run with the guys up front but hopefully I'll be up with them come the end of XC season.

Sunday 8/3 - 15mi, 1:41:43. Made it a pretty strong effort even though I ran hard yesterday. It was pretty hot in the sun and I waited until mid-day which was a bad idea. Kinda wished I was done around mile 10 but gutted out for the full 15. Run around 6:30 pace for most of the middle of the run which felt fairly good considering the effort yesterday.

Summary - 68mi, 7 days. I would say it was a good week and had a long run and hard effort back-to-back. The "race" really gave me a good backhand into reality and reminded me I need to do some more "fast" running. The 5:12 felt good at the end of the race but the pace felt like 4:30 pace. I need to add in strides a few times a week and make sure that my mid-week effort is not always a tempo but rather a quicker fartlek or actual structured workout including some faster efforts. I think I will be a bit behind going in to the first few races of Dirt Dogs but looking at all the time I have before the end of the season I think I could really make it in to a good little racing season. Thinking back I am not far off my pace of the summer before Junior year in college as far as mileage and working out so that shows I should be good come October/November and championship season.

A Long Time Coming

Ok so finally things have settled down, orders are in (sort of) and I can take a deep breath...not to mention drink a few beers! It is nice to have a deadline pass and it amazing me that I we are all done book January 2009! Truthfully I never thought I would be living in CA this long but it is fun and definitely worth every moment. So without further ado...what I have been up to in classic Sean-esque bullet point format!

• Olympic Trials

So we went to the Olympic Trials which can be sort of seen by my feeble attempt at reporting on it when I was there. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I am so glad we went. We saw some incredible races, spent July 4th at Hayward Field, walked about 6 miles a day, had amazing runs and hung out with some great people. I am not really going to go in to everything but I have to thank Villard St. Pub for some great nights. Dianna and I will definitely remember this trip for a long time.

• Work

So work has been really busy. As I mentioned we just passed our first big deadline for 2009. This means we had a new line of shoes and apparel to show and I had to get out to all my accounts which means driving in total around 2000 miles and flying even more. After a long stretch of hotel rooms, living out of the Matrix and a suitcase I am glad to be done. Not that the travel ever ends, but the bulk of the summer travel is over and that is a nice feeling. Overall the new line has been really well received and I am pumped for Reebok Running. We are really going to make a leap in 2009, mark my word!

• Running

So running has been fairly consistent, but not as exceptional as I had hoped. I have averaged 6 days a week since the trials which is pretty good. I've had a week with only 5 days and stretches of up to 14 days in a row of running in there as well. The main thing is that over the past 5 weeks every day I have run I have run over an hour, with the exception of 2 days, one of which I did 5mi and the other I did two shorter runs. That is definitely positive because I have also had a few "long" runs of 12-14 mixed in as well. So when I am getting 7 days in a row I am getting close to 70mi a week, so I am happy. I have had one up tempo day a week as well so I would say training for Dirt Dog XC is going good, not great, but good. It should be fun. More on Dirt Dog and our team in a coming blog.

• New Apartment

On top of all of this we moved! I guess I already mentioned this but it is worth mentioning again because it is just another reason my blog has been so dormant. We are now in a 2 bed/2 bath place in "North Pacific Beach" which is a big upgrade from our old 1 bed/1 bath in South PB. We have a little view of the bay which is great for the nightly Sea World fireworks and we have a "private" balcony which has my sweet new grill on it! The second bedroom is my office which really helps keep me on task and keeps the other parts of the apartment clean of Reebok crap. Overall a great move and nice to have a big place.

So that is pretty much all I have for now. Things are going well overall. Looking forward to racing in a month or so and getting back to XC. I will start posting a weekly training log again starting this Sunday which I plan to keep updated (but you know me...).

Sorry...to all 1 of you...

So I know not many people are probably even checking this blog anymore, and therefore not reading this, but I apologize for my absence. My excuses range from work to laziness but here is my vow:

I will post an update tomorrow night.

Why tomorrow night? Well tomorrow is a big deadline at work and once 5pm is past I can take a bit of a deep breath and think about something other than work.

So until tomorrow please get some sleep, don't stay up all night thinking about what I could write about, but rather sleep well knowing your favorite blog will have a great new post tomorrow!

I have a blog?

Oh right I have blog...more on that later.

Track Town USA

Alright so I haven't posted much over the past few days...but I have been busy so I will use that as a good excuse. We have been here in Eugene since Thursday morning and we have seen some amazing races. Sitting in the stands at Hayward Field watching the best in the country and some of the best in the world compete for a spot at the Olympic Games is pretty much a dream come true. I can only think of a few things I have wanted to do more in my life, one being go to the actual Olympics, and it is a great time.

Lots of things to talk about and no time to do it. I have posted a picture that sort of sums up out times here in Eugene. We are about 2mi from Hayward Field and we walk every day. This is not an easy walk with the hills that surround the area between us and the track. On top of it all we have walked all over town and we are on our feet fairly late each night having a good time on Villard Street with pretty much everyone in Eugene. If you know what it is like at Rosie O'Grady's in New York during the week of a meet or the NYC Marathon that is what is like at Villard Street Pub this week.

Good times all around and today should be some of the most exciting events yet. Just looking at the lists for the 1500 and 200 I can see virtually anyone making this team, although you have to assume Lagat is a lock.

I doesn't look like I will continue with my daily recap but I will have a recap of the entire Trials next week.

Well we are off to the festival and then it's day 8 of the Trials...this will be amazing.

Olympic Trials - Days 3-4

Ok lots of things have been going on between traveling, running, and lot of other more important things that have consumed me for the past few days. It has been a tough stretch the past few days with the loss of a very close friends mother and I would like to express my deepest condolences again. I think if you read my blog you probably know this already but it is a really tough circumstance and when it happens to someone that is so close to you it really takes a while to get your head around it.

Well here is my combined Day 3-4 recap of the Trials. Lots of very exciting action and really great story lines over the past few days.

Recap:
This is going to be tough to recap 2 full days of competition. I will sum it all up using descriptive phrases rather than calling out lots of names, times and places. There was a new OT Record, and near American Record, in the Men's Decathlon. Extremely exciting Men's 800m final with nothing less than a actual dive across the finish line in order to make the team. A somewhat predictable yet still exciting Men's 5000 final. A men's 100m final that showed the dominance of one man and the resurgence of another. A pole vault that saw the American Record holder almost miss his spot and a former, now 40+, vaulter see his Olympic dreams realized one last time. Lastly, although not chronologically, a great 400m final for both Men and Women that saw potential medalists punch their tickets as well as look on with the agony of knowing their medal is likely waiting for them in London in 2012.

Day 3-4 Olympians:
Women's Triple Jump - Shani Marks and Erica McLain
Men's Pole Vault - Derek Miles, Jeff Hartwig(!), and Brad Walker
Women's Discus - Aretha Thurmond, Suzy Powell-Roos, and Stephanie Brown Trafton
Men's Long Jump - Trevell Quinley, Brian Johnson, and Miguel Pate
Women's 400m Hurdles - Tiffany Ross-Williams, Sheena Tosta, and Queen Harrison
Men's 400m Hurdles - Bershawn Jackson, Kerron Clement, and Angelo Taylor
Men's 100m - Tyson Gay, Walter Dix, and Darvis Patton
Women's 800m - Hazel Clark, Alice Schmidt, and Nicole Teter
Men's 800m - Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating, and Christian Smith
Men's Decathlon - Bryan Clay, Trey Hardee, and Tom Pappas
Men's 5000m - Bernard Lagat, Matt Tegenkamp, and Ian Dobson
PHEW...

Highs:
3. Andrew Wheating/Christian Smith - Men's 800m - Final - 2nd /3rd Place - 1:45.03/1:45:47
I have tried my hardest not to combine athletes but they both deserve a nod here. Wheating was a little known boy from Vermont that has just exploded on the scene and is a great story to follow. Smith is a former NCAA champ who was in a hospital bed for 2 months no more than 15 months ago wondering if he would ever run again. Smith was the final athlete accepted as #30 on the declared list, the only runner in the final without the Olympic "A" standard, and a complete and utter surprise to everyone except himself and his training partner, and fellow Olympian, Symmonds. Great stuff going on in the Men's 800m, with a man who could be considered one of the best in the world being left off the team.

2. Rebecca Donaghue - Women's 5000m - Semi-Final Heat #2 - 5th Place - 15:38.95
So here is a true random decision and very biased by the fact that she runs for a Boston based team and her story is just really good. Donaghue has battled through injuries and really worked on getting healthy and staying that way. She qualified running solo at a Boston High Performance meet a few weeks back in which she ran a PR. In her Semi-Final here she PR'd by over 15 seconds and looked damn good doing it. Now she won't make the Olympics but I think she deserves a nod here for the incredible accomplishment and the sentimental value I have for someone that runs on a team from Boston.

1. Bershawn Jackson - Men's 400m Hurdles - Final - 1st Place - 48.17
Alright a great race and a great place for a truly great runner (did I say great enough times there?). Now again biased I am to another athlete, this time because he ran at a DII school (St. Aug's) and I had the opportunity to see him race a few times before he was "known." Biased thoughts aside, you have to feel good for Jackson who missed the 2004 Olympics after stumbling over the final hurdle and being out leaned to lose his chance at an almost guaranteed medal in Athens. Jackson will go in to Beijing as a favorite the gold but it wasn't with a little drama again. Once again going in to the final 50m Jackson stumbled and looked like he may lose it, but was able to really gut it out after 10th and final hurdle to get the win and have his first shot at Olympic glory.

Lows:
3. Khadevis Robinson - Men's 800m - Final - 4th Place - 1:45.53
Unbelievably KD is on my list for a second time and neither time was good. Although I can't blame him for not making the team it is really disappointing to think he won't be at the Olympics. I am really happy for Wheating and Smith but they have little to no chance on the international level just yet. Robinson is a true competitor that would have had a decent shot at the Olympic final had the races worked in his favor. Unfortunately he'll have to wait another 4 years to prove it.

2. Lashinda Demus- Women's 400m Hurdles - 4th Place - 54.76
The world leader will not be heading to Beijing and that is a shame. Althogh the US has an exceptional crew heading to the Olympics in the event it will be without, with debate, their best shot at the Gold. A sad state of affairs, but that is how it works at the US Olympic Trials.

1. USATF

Ok, so here goes a bit of a rant on the USATF. Now feel free to go on any running website and you will find all you need to know about the controversy surrounding the Men's 10,000m final on Friday night. The long and short of it is that the bumbling fools at the USATF office have allowed Adam Goucher in to the final on a special exemption even though he was sitting 8th on the provisional list. This means that by allowing Goucher in to the final 7 athletes with faster times may have to sit and watch the final while Goucher gets in. Why can this happen you ask? Well there are lots of theories. I will go with a mix of the following:

1. Alberto Salazar - The man with the plan. Salazar could probably get the USATF to let him on the Olympic team if he wanted. He has more pull and who knows why...not me. He was a great runner who coaches great athletes, but it doesn't mean he should get to bend the rules.
2. Nike - Huge corporate sponsor of the OT and happens to also sponsor Goucher. Now this is maybe sounding like a Nike hater talking but there is likely truth to this hating. Nike is the puppet master to much of what goes on at USATF and they virtually own the town of Eugene.
3. Poor Decisions - A major issue the USATF has dealt with is just making poor decisions. This is simply unfair and not well thought out. A resolution has to be made or I guarantee a lawsuit will follow.

Well that's all I got for ya. Here is a link to all the info on the 10k insanity so it can be followed: Amby Burfoot Takes on USATF.

The next time a write it will be from Eugene...Happy Trials watching to everyone it is going to be a great next 4 days!

Delay

I have a little delay on my recap of Day 3-4. Things got a little crazy around here yesterday and I need to sort a few things out...I'll try and get the recap up soon. We take off for Eugene tomorrow and have a really long layover in San Fran so I will get my recaps for all my 5 blog readers during the day tomorrow. I hope to have some sweet pictures to post over the next 4 days when we are at the trials.

That's all I got for now...next time I post I should be in Eugene!

Olympic Trials - Day 2

A quick note on my "highs" and "lows" of the day. They are not meant to be disrespectful, but rather, notes of exciting, unexpected and curious results that occur each day. "High" doesn't necessarily mean that I found it the best , nor does "low" denote worst, performance/s of the day, but instead grouping of things I feel as though pointing out, sometimes for my own personal reasons, other times because I think they are just results that need to be highlighted that may have been missed by the "naked" eye. So here goes with Day #2!

Recap:
Day 2 was mainly quarter/semi finals with Finals in the hotly contested Women's Heptathlon, Men's Shot Put and Women's 100m. In the end I would say the favorites made it on the the next round in nearly every event, with no super surprises. The one main surprise probably came from the Women's 100m where Allyson Felix placed 5th, having gone in to the event as a odds on favorite to make the team, although she has to be a shoe-in for the 4X100 pool. Most important to mention was the absolutely insane men's 100 Quarterfinals, which had 7 men run 10.00 or faster and the following records set: American/OT Record (Tyson Gay), Collegiate Record (Travis Padgett) and World/American U-20 Record (Jeffrey Demps)...just un-real considering there are still 2 rounds to go!

Today's Olympians:
Men's Shot Put - Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell and Adam Nelson
Women's 100m - Muna Lee, Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams
Women's Heptathlon - Hyleas Fountain, Jacquelyn Johnson, and Diana Pickler

Highs:
3. Christian Cantwell - Men's Shot Put - Final - 2nd Place - 71'-2.75"
Cantwell didn't throw his best but really shook off the demons of the past to make the Olympic team. In the previous 2 Olympic Trials Cantwell, a former World Champion, had fouled 10 of 12 throws. Cantwell not only managed 4 legal throws, but let his last throw stretch him out over 71' which really has to have given him some confidence. Up next Beijing where he, Hoffa and Nelson have a real "shot" at sweeping the medal stand...sorry that was a really terrible pun.

2. Diana Pickler - Women's Heptathlon - 800m - 2:16.59
Pickler made her first Olympic team running a really gutsy race in the 800m, which is the final event. She needed be within Gi Gi Johnson 1.5 seconds in order to score enough points to take the final qualifying spot, and did it. She ran an 800m PR in the process and made her first Olympic team by a mere 10 points, which can be equated to about .1 seconds in the 200m or 2-3in in the long jump. Over the course of 7 events it really shows that every little extra effort can mean the difference between a trip to Beijing or sitting at home.

1. Tyson Gay - Men's 100m - Quarterfinals Heat #1 - 1st Place - 9.77 (AR)
Well Gay was just about to land his place on the top of my list for Lows for the entire Trials with his near fatal mistake in the 100 Qualifying rounds earlier in the day. Thinking he had the win, Gay slowed down with about 10m to go, was passed by virtually the entire field and was able to rally in the last 2m and lean to make the Quarterfinals. Sporting a "throwback" 1936 Jesse Owens Olympic replica uniform (see image below), Gay exploded out of the blocks in his Quarterfinal and set an American record while still pulling up again with about 8m to go. Had to run through the line I think he would have run damn close to a world record. If Gay is still getting warmed up I truthfully see him running sub 9.70 at the Olympics.

Lows:
3. Jacob Hernandez - Men's 800m Semi-Finals Heat #2 - 5th Place - 1:46.16
Reigning NCAA 800m champion Hernandez failed to make his first Olympic Trials final, as he was edged out of the final by .14sec. Hernandez is young and has tons of potential in the future. He had a great shot at making the team, but with such a stacked field, a few big names were bound to fall before the final. Joining Hernandez in the "did not qualify" group in the same heat was another former NCAA champ, Sam Burley. A tough result, but there is plenty more to come from Hernandez in the future.

2. Virginia "Gi Gi" Johnson - Women's Heptathalon - 800m - 1st Place - 2:15.88
Gi Gi merely had to beat Diana Pickler by 1.5 seconds and she would have been on the Olympic team. Looking at the results you ask yourself, how could she had done any better, she won the event and clearly did all she could...WRONG. With about 10m to go Johnson threw her hands in the air, unintentionally slowing down in the process, most likely costing her a spot on the Olympic team. Johnson ended up only beating Pickler by about .8sec, however watching Johnson accelerate down the final stretch I really think she could have won by the 1.5sec margin had she focused more on running through the final 10m rather than frivolously celebrating her way off the Olympic team.

1. Allyson Felix - Women's 100m - Finals - 5th Place - 10.96
Granted Felix will make the team, and likely win the Gold Medal, at the 200m, but it is disappointing not to have her in the 100m as well. Felix is one of the most talented sprinters in the world and I think everyone expected her to contend for medals in the 100m and 200m in Beijing. There is little doubt in my mind she will be selected for the 4X100m relay pool, which may give her the chance for 2 Gold medals in Beijing after all.